No Italy, no U.S., so who do we back this World Cup?

It is a bit of a problem for Interisti this summer. Since Italy was knocked out and the U.S. failed to make a bid, we have really no idea who we should be rooting for during the 2018 World Cup.

As fans of Inter, we would likely be watching with interest the Azzurri, but they took care of that by not qualifying … oh, and Sweden.

Many readers of this blog are from the United States so … we won’t even talk about that.

So, now what?

Well, we can look to the Inter Milan bench at specific players who will be playing in Russia for some answers:

Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Croatia

With Ivan Perisic and Marcelo Brozovic on the squad for the World Cup, this would be a team that Inter fans could get behind.

Croatia is in a difficult group with Argentina, Iceland and Nigeria. Argentina is the group favorite with Nigeria a potential to challenge Croatia, but Iceland – new to the competition – could also challenge for a spot in the knock-out stage.

Oh, and those uniforms.

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Argentina

The aforementioned Argentines doesn’t have new Inter signee Lautaro Martinez and will not include Nerazzurri striker Mauro Icardi which may be enough for Inter fans to root against Lionel Messi and Argentina.

But, as one of the favorites to make the semifinals, it might be a little easier to get behind a proven winner … then again, maybe not.

Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Brazil

Another team expected to not only win their group but make the semifinals is Brazil.

Inter Milan defender Joao Miranda has been named to the 23-man World Cup roster, giving Nerazzurri fans a player they can get behind and since they are expected to cruise past Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia, it would provide something worth cheering for.

Photo by Jörg Schüler/Getty Images

Japan

Yuto Nagatomo will earn another cap for the Japanese and they actually have a shot of making it out of their group with Poland, Columbia and Senegal.

While it is not likely Nagatomo will spend any more time in an Inter Milan jersey, it might be a nice send-off for Nerazzurri fans to root for the defender and his national team.

Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images

Portugal

Similar to Japan, Portugal have an Inter Milan castoff Joao Mario has been named to the final roster, but defender Joao Cancelo has not. While Cancelo is not officially a member of the Nerazzurri, we all kind of want him to be.

Portugal is not in the easiest group with Spain, Morocco and Iran, but does have a good chance of making out of the group stage. However, with Mario being the only real connection to Inter, it isn’t likely Portugal is the team of choice to root for.

Of course, you can root for whatever team you want, but if you are looking for a team link, there really isn’t a very good one for Inter fans.

Brazil is about as good as it gets unless you are really hard core, then Croatia is the way to go. However, your cheering may be short-lived.

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